Writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon

SlopingBird

LuckyLucy11 wrote: »

Thanks SBird, rewriting does seem to be a whole process in itself rather than the quick edit I thought it would be.

I hope the editors of my work know more about the world of business than I do as I'm not sure the heroes profession is true to life, even after extensive research.

Don't even start me on research!! I'm currently reading (and really enjoying) Stewart Granger's autobiography for reasons of research. I've trekked to the top of mountains and visited obscure museums - all in the name of research.

Trouble is it's hard to write anything much without doing lots of research - and as it's so enjoyable that it's easy to keep researching . . . and researching and forget all about the hard bit - writing.

Books/internet research is great to a degree but the best way to find out about a profession is to talk to someone who is doing the job - you'll also get lots of great ideas that you'd never have thought of if you hadn't spoken to them, e.g. my published TAB story (a ghost story based in a charity shop) came about because my sister worked in a charity shop and used to tell me about things that happened (and she's seen a ghost, though not in the charity shop).

Anyway, good luck with the writing and I really hope M & B 'bite'.

Jei-jei

LuckyLucy11 wrote: »

Hi everyone, it's been ages since I was last here!

I'm ready to submit my first 3 chapters now, it took ALOT longer than I thought it would but I've been re-writing it over and over.

Has anyone had any good news on the submission front? I heard Jei-Jei's was accepted-congratulations! I really hope you get published and that it doesn't take too long.

I'm still doing poems and illustrations for the writers group and I'm working on a plot for Little Black Dress also.

Jei-Jei please can you tell me how you submitted (e-mail or post) & how long it took to get a reply.

Hi LuckyLucy



Sorry I just logged in to catch up and saw your post. Here's my timeline

• Original three chapters submitted around September 2011
• Request for full submission February 2012
• I've just emailed the full manuscript

If its any help, here's the copy of their email to me:


Thank you for your submission of the opening chapters of xxxxxxxx

We have now had a chance to assess this, and feel that your writing shows promise. If the manuscript is complete we would appreciate receiving it for further consideration.

Please can you re-submit your full novel as a double-spaced typescript for the attention of ‘Lucy Gilmour’ to the following email address: [URL="wlmailhtml:{5283B1A6-007A-4EB3-9999-31A1A9EAED24}mid://00000004/!x-usc:mailto:editors@hqnuk.co.uk"]editors@hqnuk.co.uk[/URL]

This request is not an offer to publish.

Material will be evaluated in as timely a fashion as volume allows. We do our best to respond to submissions within 12-24 weeks.


Yours Sincerely,

Editorial


To be honest, I'm still surprised that HMB didn't laugh themselves silly over it. It really was riddled with typos.:D

Anyway, I've tidied it up and sent the full manu today. So let's see what's gonna happen...

Will keep everyone updated on the final outcome, yea or nay.
:beer:

LuckyLucy11

That's fantastic, well done, it's quite a long time to wait hear back from them isn't it? 5 months. They say it'll be roughly 12 weeks but they must be back logged.

As for your work I'm sure it's of a very high standard to have been accepted for review! The typos obvs don't matter to them! They wouldn't ask for the full manuscript without an intention to publish I'm sure.

I'll be ready to send mine off in the next week hopefully and then given the delay I'll sort the remainder of this one and start working on the 3 chapters of the next one.

It's a bit difficult to know how long one average chapter length should be on Word Documents. So far I've done a prologue with chapters 1, 2 and almost 3. The remaining chapters of it I've typed up in bits and bobs so I'll just fill in the blanks later.

Thanks for replying. It's exciting isn't it, Good Luck!

macman

Word enables you to check the no. of words or characters in a document.

Jei-jei

Hi Luckylucy,

To be honest, I thought five months was pretty much par for the course from what I read - I guess it varies...

It's just a waiting game now. I think they could still refuse it. At the end of the day the bottom line isn't about writing ability, it's about marketability.

In Word my chapters averaged 2,000 plus - 3000 plus words. Between 8 and 16 pages in most cases. As long as each chapter ends at a key point with a hook into the next, I don't think the word count has to be greatly similar.

Good luck to you too! :beer:

Likestowrite

Hi Jei-Jei,
Congratulations on your request for a full manuscript.:) That's such an achievement ---especially when most people get a form rejection. You must have really impressed the editor.

At the end of the day the bottom line isn't about writing ability, it's about marketability.
That makes a lot of sense. Now, how do we plan a story that's marketable?

Hmmm. Maybe we should all pool our ideas.
My thoughts are... (for M&B)

a)A simple uncomplicated plot with the focus completely on hero and heroine.

b)A popular story hook/theme that always sells well (eg marriage of convenience ) but with a new twist. (very difficult!)

c) Very little external plot --just enough to bring the internal conflict out.

d)Characters that learn something --a life lesson. (probably only one character will have a really strong character arc ---the other will help that character grow and change but only change a little bit themselves?)

That's all I can think of but there must be lots more things to consider before we start writing.

LuckyLucy11

Penny Jordan (RIP) used to simply re-write old ones and she wrote nearly 200, she took a sample chapter and re-worded it until it molded into something original. There's nothing wrong with kind of direct inspiration as long as you don't steal someone else's intellectual property.

I'd reveal my plotline but with the above tip it's best not to as I think my plot is quite original, I've just been reading lots of Stephen King and writing in his vein so to speak.

Also I'm reading M&B and I'm trying to exaggerate the romantic cliche's such as making love on a bed covered in priceless diamonds etc, getting all Dynasty or James Bond on it, black panther, cigarette holders, naked beneath trench coats, greed, revenge, lust etc...

I hope M&B don't ask me to submit the whole manuscript though because I've been editing every day for just one or two hours at the library, I'd like an advance so I can finish the whole thing on my own laptop.

Anglea

Hi all, long time since I've been here, I've been busy writing.

An additional point to note apart from a book being marketable, is a case of luck and timing.

This is what happened with my book, the editor really liked it but said they already had accepted a set amount with that particular theme for upcoming publications...

SlopingBird

LuckyLucy11
I didn't realise Penny Jordan had died until I read your post. How sad - she was one of my early inspirations. I remember reading an interview with her back in the 80s and she said she'd started writing when she was around 30. 200 books in 35 years is some going, especially as many of them were pretty hefty tomes. As you said RIP Penny Jordan.

SlopingBird

Me again!
I don't know if anyone here entered the Good Housekeeping novel competition but it says on their Facebook page that they had 6,000 entries (first chapter, plus synopsis) - an amazing number. I did enter but didn't submit romantic fiction for that one, more of a mainstream novel.